Apparatus for the manufacture of sugar.



N0. 703,439. Patented July I, I902.

J. A. MORRELL.

APPARATUS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF SUGAB.

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(App licatiou Jan. 29, 1896.)

No. 703,439. Patented July 1, 190-2 J. A. moagsu.

APPARATUS FOR THE MANUFACTURE UF SUGAR.

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No. 703,439. Patented July I, I902; .1. A. MORRELL. APPARATUS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF SUGAR.

(Application filed Jam 29, 1896.

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(No Model.)

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J. A. MORBELL.

APPARATUS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF SUGAR.

Patented July I, I902.

(Application flledhn. 29, 1896.). (lo llodel.)

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Tm: annals PETERS coy. morn-Luna wxsmm'mu D c UNITED: STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES A. MORRELL, OF LANSDALE, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR OF TWO- TI-IIRDS TO HENRY O. STUART, OF DENVER, COLORADO, AND SAMUEL B. ALLISON, OF NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA; O. A. DORRESTEIN ADMIN- ISTRATOR OF SAID ALLISON, DECEASED.

APPARATUS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF SUGAR.-

SIECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 703,439, dated July 1, 1902.

Application filed January 29, 1896. Serial No. 577,292.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, JA ES A.'l\/IORRELL, a resident of Lansdale, in the county of Montgomery and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in the Art of Manufacturing Sugar; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the artto which it pertains to make and use'thesame.

The invention. relates to apparatus for the manufacture of sugar, and has for its object to provide eflicient and economical means for obtaining from cane-juice or the like the entire content of sugar without the use of any chemical and with no residual product except a practical minimum of albuminous matter or glucose; and the invention consists in the improvements in the art hereinafter described and particularly pointed out.

In the accompanying. drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation, partly in section, of the entire apparatus. Figs. 2,-3, and'et are similar partial views on an enlarged scale.

Numeral 1 denotes a pipe. for supplying cane-juice or the like upon aninclined sieve 2 or other equivalent device forseparating coarser refuse.

3 denotes refuse removed. from the sieve,

which may be done in any convenient man'- ner. The liquid falls through the sieve into a tank 4, which by preference is supplied witha wire-cloth basket suspended by or connected to wires forming part of an electric circuit. i 5 indicates circuit-wires. The parts are suitably insulated and connected .w ith a source of electricity in any usual manner, with the object of passing an electric current through the wires of the basket and the fallingliquid in contact therewith to subject the finely-divided particles of juice, passing through the wire mesh to the action of the electric current to destroy'germ's and to induce a separation of albuminous matter or glucose and all foreign or coloring matter and to prepare the sugar for crystallization, which efiects I have discovered to be a result of the electrical treatment herein described. Fine wire is'the most suitable to insure that the proportion (No model.)

of the total electric current passing directly through the liquid may be as large as practicable.

6 denotes an overflow-pipe, and 7 a valved discharge-conduit into tank 4*.

8 denotes a pump to transfer the liquid from the tank l to a filtering-receptacle 9.

10 is a closed filter, preferably made of terracotta. Theliquid is forced up to and through the filter into its interior and is discharged therefrom'by a siphon-pipell into a tank 12, from whence it flows through a pipe 13 and a branch 14 into the interior tubelo of the heater 16. Said heater receives into an annular space 17 surrounding tube 18, exhaust-steam from the pump through a pipe 19,-wl1ich has a branch 20 situated in the interior of tube 13. Wastesteam and water of condensation from chamber 17 and pipe 20 escape at 21. The screened and filtered liquid rises through tube 15 and is met by a jet of hot air delivered from the nozzle 22, and is thereby forced out of the perforated end of pipe 23 into an open-topped receiver 24, provided with a hophavebe'en coagulated by the heat in the steamjacket 16, freeing thecrystallizable liquor,

which is sterilized audbleached by the combined action of the hot' air and the electricity.

'lhereceiver 24 is conveniently supported be tween two floor-timbers, and the insulators 24' are fixed on the opposite sides of said timbers and not only insulate the circuit-wire,but may also aid in sustaining the basket-atomizer. Th'e'upper rim of said basket is made of nonconducting material to prevent short-circuiting. In tank 25 said albumen and glucose settle to the bottom and at suitable times are shoveled or scraped out through the valved outlet 26.- I p v 27 denotes a liquid-gage, and 26 represents draw-off cocks to be used successively from top to bottom to avoid disturbing the sediment and before the accumulation of sediment rises abovethe lower exit 28. To avoid agitating the contents of-the tank 25 by the tank-discharging pump 29, the latter is connected to draw the deposited fluid from an intermediate holder 30, which will be kept filled by the draw-oft pipes controlled by cocks 28. The pump 29 forces the liquid through a filter 31 in an upward direction and into tank 33. For this use a filter such as described in the patent of Samuel B. Allison, granted January 30, 1894, and numbered 513,551, or the like will be suitable, or substantially such as indicated in my patent dated May 31, 1881, and numbered 242,216. After a run the small amount of albumen or glucose or other waste which may have escaped from tank 20, but which has been caught in the bottom of the filter 31, can be discharged into a sewer or elsewhere through the bent discharge-pipe 31 and steam forced up through the pipe 31 into the filter and thence into the tank 33 un til the liquid passing is reduced from about 10 to 5 Baum, whereupon steam is introduced at the top and forced down and out until the filter is thoroughly cleansed. The now thoroughly sterilized, defecated, bleached, and filtered juice is heated by a steam-coil 32 in the tank 33 and passes thence into the bottom of a heater 10, such as before described. Said heater receives exhaust-steam through a pipe 34, communicating with the steam-space of an air-heating vessel 35, said space receiving live steam through inlet 36.

37 denotes an air-heating coil receiving air through a pipe 38, communicating with a reservoir 39, in which air is compressed by a pump 40.

41 is a hot-air chamber at the end of the air-coil and provided with several distinct outlets to supply hot air to the various devices and for the several purposes herein described, the desired relative pressure and volume for each being secured in any desired manner-as, for example, bypipes of suitable diameters. The juice now rises through the tube situated in the liquid-heater last above described, which heater receives steam through pipe 34. The liquid is thereby raised to a temperature of not quite 212 Fahrenheit and is met at a point above the Heater by a jet or blast of highly-heated air (about 300 Fahrenheit) issuing from the nozzle 42 and is thereby atomized and blended with the air and forced into the spiral passage 43, whence it is ejected in a disintegrated and highly volatile condition and in a violent whirling or cyclonic current, which is maintained in the coil44, which coil is kept at a heat of from 800 to 1,000 Fahrenheit. This operation is highly important in that the atomizing and disintegrating action of the hot-air blast separates the water of the juice from the crystalliza-ble matter in the form of vapor, which vapor prevents the solidification and consequent deposition of the crystallizable matter as the fluids are whirled through the coil. I have discovered that owing to the high pressure or the close confinement or to causes unknown the sugar is not inverted in the coil nor upon bein g discharged therefrom in substantially the manner set forth to afford free escape to the heated vapor. The coil is externally heated in the stack of the furnace, as indicated, in addition to the heat due to the liquid-injecting hot-air blast. The coil discharges in or near the hopper-bottom of the open tank 45 under the arrester or hood 51, whereupon the air and the vaporized Water instantly escape, and the fluid saccharine falls through an outlet-4G into a suitable receptacle. Water condensed on the sides of tank 45 can be drawn off through discharge-pipe 52. By suitably regulating the temperature of the heatingstack, which is provided with a pyrometer, and also by regulating the current through the heating-coil 44 the density of the fluid saccharine discharged from the coil can be regulated, and by varying the time the fluid saccharine is kept before it is purged by the centrifugal machine in the usual manner the granulation can be Varied. With a density of from about 42 to 43 Baum and a rest of an hour and a half the sugar will accrete in large grains. With a density of from about 44 to 45 and a rest of from three-fourths of an hour to an hour the grains will be small. \Vith a density of 46 the sugar will solidify immediately upon cooling. The fluid saccharine which falls into the receptacle or wagon will resolve itself about three-fourthspure refined white crystal sugar and onefourth fluids of crystallization or syrup, which can be separated from each other in a centrifngal machine in the usual manner. The syrup thus obtained mayin its turn be made into a very light-brown sugar by running it into the cylindrical evaporator 47 through the inlet 47, where it is stirred by the device 49 to pre'ventits concretingand channelingwhile undergoing the process of evaporation by the action of the hot air which is introduced through the pipe 48 and forced upward through it. The sugar falls and is drawn oil through the swing-Valve.

By the above-described methods no chemicals are used, no molasses is left as a final residual product, there is no inversion or caramelization, and there are no residual substances except the glucose and associated albuminous matter. These can be utilized in any usual manner. The precipitation of the albuminous substance and glucose is insured by electrical action. The production of this eitect before the filtering, the subsequent filtering through the terra-cotta into the interior of the filtering vessel adapted to be discharged by a siphon, the subsequent heating and the atomizing of the filtered liquid, followed by electrical action and the subsequent upward filtering, are deemed important in the relations and operation described. The means for thoroughly depositing the glucose and decanting the juice, including the series of discharge-cocks communicating with a reservoir connected to a pump, are important, and also the imparting a whirling or cyclonic movement to the mingled air, water, and sugar in IIO the heating or evaporating coil is especially advantageous, and the thorough utilization of exhaust-steam for heating purposes contributes to the economy of the operations. It is further characteristic of the improvement that perfectevaporation can be secured and a temperature of from about 800 to 1,000 Fahrenheit can be utilized without boiling the liquid, and I have discovered that complete evaporation of water from sugar can be thus effected without loss, without inversion, or caramelization.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is- 1. The combination of means for supplying cane-juice, a sieve for separating the coarser solid matter from said juice, a wire-cloth bas ket, and electric-circuitwires attached to the basket whereby cane-juice may be screened and an electric current passed conjointly through the liquid and wire-cloth to precipitate solid matter preparatory to filtering, substantially as described.

2. The combination of meansfor supplying cane-juice, a sieve for separating the coarser solid matter from said juice, a wire-cloth basket, and electric-circuit wires attached to the basket whereby cane-juice may be screened and an electric current passed conjointly through the liquid and wire-cloth to precipitate solid matter preparatory to filtering, and a closed filter having a porous wall and a siphon-pipe to discharge the filtered liquid, substantially as described.

3. The combination of means for supplying cane-juice, a sieve for separating the coarser solid matter from said juice, a wire-cloth basket, and electric-circuit wires attached to the basket wherebycane-juice may be screened and an electric current passed conjointly through the liquid and wire-cloth to precipitate solid matter preparatory to filtering, and a closed filter having a porous wall and a siphon-pipe to discharge the filtered liquid, and a settling-tank 12 having draw-off cocks all substantially as described whereby the filtered juice may be electrically treated and bleached and glucose precipitated, and where by the latter maybe deposited and the juice decanted, substantially as described.

4'. In combination, means for partially separating glucose and other matters from canejuice, a heater for heating the juice, a discharge-pipe to convey the juice from the heater, a hot-air induction-pipe communicating with said discharge-pipe, a receiver for the heated liquid injected by the air and a wire-cloth basketsituatedin an electric circuit and adapted to finely divide liquid falling from the said receiver, all substantially as described.

5. In'combination means for producing a heated aqueous solution of pure refined white sugar, a liquid heater comprising a coil situated in afurnace for superheating the hot solution, means for delivering hot defecated and purified juice to said coil, an air-heater, an air-pump to force air through said heater, an air-pipe leading from the heater and communicating with the liquid-heating coil of the furnace to induce liquid and inject itinto said coil and a pyrometer, substantially as described.

6. In combination means for producing a heated aqueous solution-of pure refined white sugar, a liquid-heater comprising'a coil situated in a furnace,for superheating the hot solution, means for delivering hot defecated juice to said coil, an air-heater, an air-pump to force air through said heater, an'air-pipe leading from the heater and communicating with'the liquid-heating coil of the furnace to induce liquid and inject it into said coil, said coil having a relatively short spiral conduit near the air-injector to whirl the fluids, substantially as described.

7. In combination means for producing a heated aqueous solution of pure refined white sugar, a coil for superheating such solution, a pipe for supplying the same, and an airpipe communicating with said pipe to inject the solution in spray into said coil, a spiral conduit in the coil near the injector, and an open tank, all substantially as I described whereby the fluids can be whirled through the heating-coil and the water then evaporated to produce refined crystal sugar, substantially as described.

8. In combination means for producing a heated aqueous solution of pure refined white sugar, a coil for heating the refined liquid sugar, a pipe for supplying said liquid, an air-pipe communicating with said pipe to inject the liquid in spray into said coil, a spiral conduit in the coil near the injector, and an open tank whereby the fluids can be whirled through the heating-coil and the water then evaporated, said tank having a deflector 51 and a distinct exit 52 for condensed vapor, substantially as described;

In testimony whereof I have signed this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

JAMES A. MORRELL.

Witnesses:

BENJ. R. CATLIN, FRANK D. BLACKISTONE. 

